2008 NCAA Division I baseball season explained

The 2008 NCAA Division I baseball season play of college baseball in the United States, organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began on February 22, 2008. The season was the first to have a uniform start date for both southern and northern teams. The change from previous seasons, in which weather allowed southern teams to begin play weeks before northern teams, was an attempt to improve parity between warm-weather and cold-weather teams.^{[1] [2]} The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2008 NCAA Division I baseball tournament and 2008 College World Series. The College World Series, which consisted of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA tournament, was held in its annual location of Omaha, Nebraska, at Rosenblatt Stadium. It concluded on June 25, 2008, with the final game of the best of three championship series. Fresno State defeated Georgia two games to one to claim their first championship. Fresno State was the first team seeded fourth in its regional tournament to win a national championship since the NCAA tournament adopted the current 64-team format in 1999.^[3]

Realignment

New programs

Five new programs joined Division I baseball for the 2008 season, four from the NCAA Division II. Florida Gulf Coast, previously a Division II independent; North Carolina Central, previously of the Division II Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association; Presbyterian, previously of the Division II South Atlantic Conference; and South Carolina Upstate, previously of the Division II Peach Belt Conference, all made the transition to Division I.^{[4] [5] [6] [7]} The fifth new program, Houston Baptist, joined Division I from the NAIA.^[8]

Conference changes

See main article: article. Entering the 2008 baseball season, the Mid-Continent Conference was renamed The Summit League.^[9] The renamed conference was one of several conferences to make membership changes.

Both the renamed Summit League and the Atlantic Sun Conference added multiple members. The Summit added three schools, IPFW, North Dakota State, and South Dakota State, all previously Division I independents.^[10] The Atlantic Sun added two schools, Florida Gulf Coast and South Carolina Upstate, both from Division II.^[11]

Both the Big West Conference, which added UC Davis from the Division I independent ranks, and the Horizon League, which added Valparaiso from the Mid-Continent, added a single member.^[12]

Three schools joined the Division I independent ranks. Le Moyne left the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference to become an independent, and both North Carolina Central and Presbyterian became independents after their transitions from Division II.^[13]

Conference standings

America East Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 15 8 .652 29 27 .518 14 10 .583 34 26 .567 13 11 .542 21 29 .420 12 11 .522 27 24 .529 10 13 .435 18 31 .367 10 14 .417 17 37 .318 8 15 .394 18 28 .394	Atlantic 10 Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 19 8 .704 43 16 .729 16 6 .727 24 29 .453 15 9 .625 27 29 .482 16 11 .593 25 28 .472 15 11 .574 31 27 .534 15 12 .556 29 23 .558 13 13 .500 29 23 .558 12 13 .480 27 23 .540 11 16 .407 26 29 .473 11 16 .407 18 27 .400 11 16 .407 16 36 .308 10 16 .389 20 31 .396 9 17 .346 21 29 .420 9 18 .333 18 32 .360	Atlantic Coast Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct Atlantic 24 6 .800 54 14 .794 18 11 .621 42 22 .656 13 16 .448 25 31 .446 11 18 .383 31 27 .534 9 21 .300 30 26 .536 9 21 .300 26 27 .491 Coastal 23 5 .821 53 11 .828 22 7 .759 54 14 .794 16 14 .533 41 21 .629 15 15 .500 39 23 .629 10 18 .362 37 18 .670 6 24 .200 23 32 .418
Atlantic Sun Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 25 8 .758 35 15 .700 21 12 .636 30 26 .536 19 14 .576 33 30 .524 18 15 .545 29 26 .527 17 16 .515 25 29 .463 17 16 .515 24 23 .421 16 17 .485 24 32 .429 15 17 .469 26 33 .441 15 18 .455 27 30 .474 13 20 .394 27 29 .482 12 20 .375 21 37 .362 9 24 .273 18 38 .321	Big East Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 20 7 .741 42 16 .724 19 8 .704 38 20 .655 16 10 .615 32 21 .604 16 11 .593 41 21 .661 15 12 .556 31 25 .554 14 13 .519 31 27 .534 13 14 .481 35 21 .625 12 15 .444 30 28 .517 11 16 .407 27 28 .491 11 16 .407 23 29 .443 7 19 .269 19 34 .358 7 20 .259 17 30 .362	Big South Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 17 3 .850 50 14 .781 14 7 .667 35 26 .573 14 7 .667 29 26 .527 10 9 .526 25 33 .431 9 12 .429 20 33 .377 6 14 .300 24 32 .429 6 15 .286 17 35 .327 5 14 .263 23 34 .404
Big Ten Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 26 5 .839 46 14 .767 21 9 .700 32 25 .561 17 15 .531 27 31 .466 16 15 .516 29 25 .537 15 15 .500 30 26 .536 14 17 .452 30 30 .500 14 18 .438 19 28 .404 12 18 .400 24 29 .453 10 21 .323 20 35 .364 10 22 .312 21 33 .389	Big West Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 16 8 .667 38 21 .644 16 8 .667 41 22 .651 14 10 .583 42 18 .700 14 10 .583 35 21 .625 14 10 .583 21 33 .389 13 11 .542 35 24 .593 8 16 .333 24 32 .429 8 16 .333 24 32 .429 5 19 .208 14 41 .255	Big 12 Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 19 8 .704 49 19 .708 18 9 .667 42 18 .700 17 9 .648 40 16 .711 16 11 .593 37 21 .638 15 12 .556 39 22 .639 11 16 .409 31 26 .544 11 16 .409 29 29 .500 9 17 .352 35 25 .582 9 18 .333 26 27 .491 9 18 .333 25 30 .455
Colonial Athletic Association Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 25 4 .862 44 17 .721 20 9 .690 39 19 .672 18 10 .643 30 25 .545 16 13 .552 36 21 .632 14 14 .500 25 27 .481 14 16 .467 30 28 .517 12 17 .414 33 23 .589 12 17 .414 25 26 .490 11 17 .393 22 31 .415 8 17 .320 15 30 .333 7 23 .233 19 36 .345	Conference USA Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 21 3 .875 47 15 .758 15 9 .625 42 22 .656 13 9 .591 39 22 .639 14 10 .583 42 24 .636 13 11 .542 42 21 .667 10 13 .435 30 30 .500 8 16 .333 31 27 .534 7 17 .292 26 34 .433 5 18 .217 17 38 .309	Horizon League Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 17 6 .739 35 22 .614 16 6 .727 30 23 .566 13 12 .520 23 33 .411 10 13 .435 22 31 .415 11 15 .423 25 36 .410 8 13 .381 21 35 .375 7 17 .292 12 34 .261
Ivy League Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct Lou Gehrig 15 5 .750 22 30 .423 11 9 .550 20 22 .476 6 13 .350 15 23 .395 6 14 .300 12 27 .308 Red Rolfe 15 5 .750 25 17 .595 9 10 .474 20 24 .455 9 11 .450 20 24 .455 8 12 .400 10 30 .250	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 19 5 .792 41 13 .759 19 5 .792 31 20 .608 15 8 .652 30 26 .536 13 10 .565 29 28 .509 11 13 .458 14 36 .280 10 14 .417 22 28 .440 8 15 .348 19 28 .404 7 16 .304 20 30 .400 4 20 .167 4 44 .083	Mid-American Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct East 16 8 .667 36 21 .632 16 8 .667 32 20 .615 14 13 .519 29 30 .492 8 13 .381 25 24 .510 8 19 .296 18 36 .333 7 19 .269 14 38 .269 West 15 8 .652 25 34 .424 16 10 .615 28 26 .519 12 11 .522 28 25 .528 12 12 .500 29 23 .558 13 13 .500 29 27 .518 10 13 .435 18 31 .367
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 17 1 .945 36 22 .621 11 6 .647 29 30 .492 11 7 .611 20 22 .476 11 7 .611 16 33 .327 7 10 .412 25 24 .510 4 12 .250 6 50 .107 0 18 .000 4 52 .071	Missouri Valley Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 19 5 .792 48 17 .738 18 6 .750 40 17 .702 16 8 .667 37 21 .638 14 10 .583 30 24 .556 12 12 .500 34 23 .596 10 14 .417 26 28 .481 9 15 .375 18 32 .360 6 18 .250 22 30 .423 4 20 .167 14 42 .250	Mountain West Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 19 5 .792 44 19 .698 16 8 .667 34 25 .576 16 8 .667 31 28 .525 10 14 .417 26 28 .481 10 14 .417 22 36 .379 9 15 .375 22 37 .373 4 20 .167 18 33 .353
Northeast Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 20 5 .800 37 16 .698 18 9 .667 25 24 .510 17 11 .607 27 28 .491 13 11 .542 21 34 .382 10 16 .385 15 38 .283 10 18 .357 12 41 .226 9 19 .321 16 36 .308 7 15 .318 16 31 .340	Ohio Valley Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 23 4 .852 37 21 .638 19 7 .731 33 23 .589 14 12 .538 27 29 .466 13 13 .500 27 30 .474 13 14 .481 35 23 .603 12 13 .480 26 26 .500 12 14 .462 21 30 .412 12 15 .444 26 27 .491 8 19 .296 18 33 .353 5 20 .200 10 41 .196	Pacific-10 Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 16 8 .667 49 13 .790 14 10 .583 41 42 .629 13 11 .542 33 27 .550 12 12 .500 42 19 .689 12 12 .500 33 21 .609 11 13 .458 32 21 .604 11 13 .458 28 24 .538 11 13 .458 28 28 .500 8 16 .333 30 26 .536
Patriot League Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 13 7 .650 25 25 .500 11 9 .550 32 25 .561 11 9 .550 21 28 .429 10 10 .500 30 24 .556 8 12 .400 25 23 .521 7 13 .350 23 27 .460	Southeastern Conference Team W L Pct W L Pct East 20 9 .683 45 25 .641 17 13 .567 34 24 .586 16 14 .533 44 19 .698 15 14 .517 41 22 .651 15 15 .500 40 23 .635 12 18 .400 27 29 .482 West 18 11 .617 49 19 .717 16 14 .533 34 28 .548 15 15 .500 39 26 .600 14 15 .483 34 24 .586 11 19 .367 28 28 .500 9 21 .300 23 33 .411	Southern Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 19 8 .704 44 18 .710 18 9 .667 39 20 .661 17 10 .630 33 24 .579 16 11 .593 33 25 .569 15 12 .556 33 27 .550 14 13 .519 32 27 .542 14 13 .519 29 28 .509 12 15 .444 28 28 .500 6 21 .222 24 35 .407 4 23 .148 12 38 .240
Southland Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct East 20 10 .667 35 23 .603 17 12 .586 28 28 .500 15 15 .500 32 27 .542 13 16 .448 27 27 .500 7 23 .233 13 42 .236 5 25 .167 10 44 .185 West 22 8 .733 39 19 .672 19 11 .633 30 27 .526 18 12 .600 37 25 .597 16 14 .533 26 31 .456 14 15 .483 24 33 .421 12 17 .414 25 29 .463	Southwestern Athletic Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct East 18 5 .783 37 22 .627 15 9 .625 29 16 .644 13 10 .565 18 26 .409 8 14 .364 13 22 .371 4 20 .167 7 39 .152 West 18 6 .750 28 18 .607 15 9 .625 21 28 .429 14 10 .583 25 26 .490 7 17 .292 16 34 .320 6 18 .250 10 33 .233	Summit League Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 24 4 .857 48 14 .774 16 11 .593 31 28 .525 13 11 .542 21 33 .389 13 15 .464 30 26 .536 9 11 .450 22 27 .449 10 17 .370 14 36 .280 7 14 .333 15 30 .333 7 16 .304 15 30 .333
Sun Belt Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 20 10 .667 34 24 .586 18 11 .621 43 21 .672 18 12 .600 32 26 .552 15 12 .556 32 27 .542 16 14 .533 33 27 .550 16 14 .533 30 29 .508 15 15 .500 32 26 .552 13 16 .448 27 29 .482 12 18 .400 20 36 .357 10 18 .357 16 32 .333 8 21 .276 20 34 .370	Western Athletic Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 21 11 .656 47 31 .603 18 14 .563 34 26 .567 18 14 .563 29 31 .483 17 14 .548 31 25 .554 15 17 .469 28 33 .459 14 17 .452 24 34 .414 7 23 .233 23 31 .426	West Coast Conference Conf Overall Team W L Pct W L Pct 16 5 .762 44 17 .721 14 6 .700 38 21 .644 13 8 .619 33 22 .600 12 9 .571 31 26 .544 10 10 .500 30 23 .566 8 13 .381 26 26 .500 7 14 .333 23 32 .434 3 18 .143 21 33 .389
Division I Independents Team W L Pct 34 19 .642 32 21 .604 23 24 .489 23 36 .470 17 23 .425 19 31 .385 19 34 .358 16 33 .327 14 32 .309 13 40 .245 5 22 .185 6 41 .128 5 47 .096 0 22 .000

Team won the conference tournament and the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament

Conference does not have conference tournament, so team won the autobid for finishing in first

Team received at-large bid to NCAA tournament

College World Series

See main article: article. The 2008 season marked the sixty second NCAA baseball tournament, which culminated with the eight team College World Series. The College World Series was held in Omaha, Nebraska. The eight teams played a double-elimination format, with Fresno State claiming their first championship with a two games to one series win over Georgia in the final.

Bracket

Award winners

All-America team

See main article: article and 2008 College Baseball All-America Team.

References

• 2008 Division I Standings at BoydsWorld.com
• Warrennolan Standings

Notes and References

1. Web site: Kimmey . Will . NCAA Approves Uniform Start Date for 2008 . BaseballAmerica.com . 6 July 2012 . 11 January 2006 . https://archive.today/20130117192046/http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/060111ncaa.html . 17 January 2013 . live .
2. Web site: College Baseball Plays Waiting Game with Uniform Start Date . USAToday.com . The Associated Press . 6 July 2012 . 15 February 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081103045914/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/baseball/2008-02-15-start-date_N.htm . 3 November 2008 . The new NCAA uniform starting date for Division I baseball was established with the intent to create competitive balance among northern and southern teams. . live .
3. Web site: Gardiner . Andy . Fresno State Overpowers Georgia for First National Title . USAToday.com . 6 July 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110327064620/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/baseball/2008-06-25-fresno-cws_N.htm . 27 March 2011 . 10 July 2008 . live .
4. Web site: Florida Gulf Coast University Football Feasibility Study . FGCU.edu . Carr Sports Associates, Inc. . 24 June 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120620062505/http://www.fgcu.edu/president/files/FGCU-FootballFeasibilityStudy-M011511.pdf . 20 June 2012 . I-1 . 18 January 2011 . Responding to scheduling and conference membership limitations in NCAA Division II (Division II), FGCU strategically applied for membership in NCAA Division I in January, 2006, and was soon accepted into the Atlantic Sun Conference, effective 2007-2008. . dead .
5. Web site: NCCU Gains Full NCAA Division I Membership . NCCU.edu . 24 June 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140316170349/http://www.nccu.edu/news/index.cfm?id=49D4724D-F3C6-A937-7B09C561D382580F . 16 March 2014 . 11 August 2011 . The Eagles captured eight conference team titles in their final two seasons as a Division II member in the CIAA (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) before competing as an independent without conference affiliation starting in the fall of 2007. . live .
6. Web site: Peloquin . Matt . Presbyterian College Upgrades to Division I . CollegeSportsInfo.com . 24 June 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111013041550/http://collegesportsinfo.com/2006/03/31/presbyterian-college-upgrades-to-division-i/ . 13 October 2011 . 31 March 2006 . live .
7. Web site: NCAA Grants USC Upstate Full Division I Certification . News.USCUpstate.com . 24 June 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111207135225/http://news.uscupstate.edu/2011/08/ncaa-grants-usc-upstate-full-division-i-certification/ . 7 December 2011 . 12 August 2011 . During the department's first year of Division I play in 2007-08, ... the baseball team posted a 17–16 record in conference play. . live .
8. Web site: Huskies Finish First Season Back in Division I with Rout of UT-Pan Am . HBUHuskies.com . Houston Baptist Sports Information . 24 June 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160305085645/http://www.hbuhuskies.com/news/2008/5/24/961.aspx?path=baseball . 5 March 2016 . 24 May 2008 . live .
9. Web site: Brown. Mike. ORU in Last Year Before Move to Southland Conference. TulsaWorld.com. 24 June 2012. 5 January 2012. May 2007: Mid-Con changes its name to the Summit League, ....
10. Web site: Barnette. Drew. BX Summit League Preview and Notes. DraftExpress.com. 24 June 2012. 14 October 2007. This league was formerly known as the Mid Continental Conference. Valparaiso jumped ship and joined the Horizon League, and they were replaced by IPFW, North Dakota State and South Dakota State..
11. Web site: Wilder. Stephen. It's Official: NKU Is Going Division I. TheNortherner.com. 24 June 2012. 8 December 2011. The addition is the first expansion for the Atlantic Sun since 2007 when the University of South Carolina Upstate and Florida Gulf Coast University joined the league..
12. News: UC Davis Steps Up, Joins D-1's Big West. 24 June 2012. The Oakland Tribune. 12 March 2003. Oakland, California.
13. Web site: Harrigan. Matthew. Le Moyne Baseball in Season of Transition from Division I to D-II. Syracuse.com. The Post-Standard. 24 June 2012. 2 April 2011.